


It Got Worse

by Moonspite



Series: My Magnum Opus [1]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Anders fucks up, Backwoods AU, Gen, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 03:10:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3752224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonspite/pseuds/Moonspite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU for post-Kirkwall. Anders and Hawke are hiding out in a trailer in the backwoods of West Virginia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Got Worse

Anders’ skin prickled at the cool night air as he suppressed a shiver. After spending about twenty minutes outside, he began to regret not wearing a jacket, let alone a _shirt_. It had been the first day in a long while that his neck of the woods hadn’t been choked by the cold. He crossed his fingers that whatever nasty weather there had been recently was just one of the last hurrahs of winter.

It would be another month or two before he could start up a garden; the ground was still frozen solid and it would be a waste of time trying to drive a shovel into the soil. He still held Justice close to him, even if most of bullets had been emptied out of the old, sawed-off shotgun for months now.

Anders hadn’t needed to use Justice since the situation in Kirkwall went to shit and the bomb he so lovingly crafted completely obliterated the biggest church in the tri-county area, the Chantry. The whole ordeal had shoved Hawke, Anders’ lover, between a rock and a hard place and had more or less fucked him over entirely.

Regardless, Hawke was kind enough to drag Anders out of Kirkwall with minimal physical damage done to the both of them, but irreparable damage done to their reputations. After driving a few days out into the backwoods of West Virginia, Hawke managed to find his family’s old double-wide trailer.

It was barely livable and hellishly grimy from the elements, but they didn’t have much choice.

Hawke stepped out of the trailer, the door’s noisy metallic creak hurting Anders’ ears a little. He took a seat on the porch right next to Anders, carrying an old banjo in his arms.

“—Found this in me and Carver’s old room. I’m shocked it wasn’t stolen by now.”

Anders nods, looking impressed. “Wait, you play?”

“Well, it’s been about ten years – lemme give it a shot.”

He picked at a chord and began to try and strum the instrument. The metal strings stung his fingers. It felt so unnatural playing it, and Hawke quickly grew frustrated with the horrendous, plucky music that poured from his fingers. Anders visibly cringed.

“Stop, _stop_! You can’t play it like a friggin’ _guitar,_ man.” He shifted Justice to the crook of his arm. “Gimme it, I’ll try.”

“Oh hell no. Anders, you remember that episode of uh. Shit. Metalocalypse? The troll thing?”

“…What?”

“Well, those guys had to play acoustics – like, lutes, other shit – and they ended up fucking it up, playing it like it was metal.”

“And you’re saying I’d do the same thing with the stupid banjo? Oh, my _god_.”

“Anders, you’ve done it before. You got a lot of talents, but playing music isn’t one of them.”

Not deterred by Hawke’s claims, Anders made a grab for the banjo’s neck and tried to pull it over to his lap. “Oh, come on. I won’t fuck this up. I been listening to bluegrass since I was a boy.”

“Anders, I said ‘no.’”

Hawke struggled to keep the instrument away from his friend, holding it tight until Anders’ elbow struck Justice’s trigger and the earsplitting sound of a shot being fired filled the air. Anders’ eyes grew wide when he realized what had happened.

Hawke clutched at his bleeding shoulder, roaring and swearing in pain. The bullet had gone straight through him, luckily missing any important blood vessels. Anders’ jaw nearly fell to the floor as he began to panic at the sight.

“Shit – I’m so – I thought it wasn’t loaded!”

“The hell it was!” Hawke grit his teeth and winced. “Fuck, man! Don’t just friggin’ stand there – go get your fuckin’ tools or something!”


End file.
